British pharmaceutical giant $AstraZeneca (AZN.US)$ In its latest financial report, it raised its annual expectations, mainly due to the strong demand for its blockbuster anticancer drugs, and stated plans to invest approximately $3.5 billion in its US business by the end of 2026. The company's financial report released on Tuesday showed that the 2024 earnings per share (EPS) growth rate, excluding some special items, increased from the previous forecast of around 15% to around 18%.

As of the third quarter ending in September, AstraZeneca's best-selling anticancer drug, Tagrisso, was a major driver of AstraZeneca's overall sales exceeding expectations, while the sales contributions from the new drug Enhertu were also higher than market expectations. AstraZeneca's Q3 overall sales reached $13.565 billion, a 21% year-on-year increase; Q3 core EPS was $2.08, a 27% year-on-year increase.

Financial data shows that the anticancer drug Tagrisso brought in sales of up to $1.674 billion for AstraZeneca in the third quarter, a 17% year-on-year increase. The anticancer drug Tagrisso, which is driving AstraZeneca's performance growth, is a targeted drug for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) mutations. Tagrisso has been approved for first-line treatment of EGFR mutation-positive advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients. Additionally, it is also indicated for patients with the T790M mutation who develop resistance after receiving other EGFR-TKI treatments.

The British pharmaceutical giant also stated that it will invest approximately $3.5 billion in research and manufacturing for the US market by the end of 2026. This includes $2 billion in new investments needed for AstraZeneca to further expand its US market business. Currently, AstraZeneca's US market business sales is about twice the size of the European market and is the largest driver of overall sales expansion in all regions.

This large-scale investment includes AstraZeneca's previously announced research facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as biologics manufacturing facility in Maryland, cell therapy manufacturing capabilities on the East and West coasts, and specialized manufacturing facilities in Texas.

AstraZeneca has been expanding its manufacturing production capacity in multiple regions globally, but the plan for the US is much larger in scale than the $1.2 billion investment in Singapore announced earlier this year. It is also significantly larger than the approximately £0.65 billion (approximately $0.833 billion) planned investment in the UK. The pharmaceutical giant's capital expenditure totalled around $1.4 billion in 2023 and is expected to increase significantly in 2024.

Although astrazeneca's oncology drug sales grew by 10% in the third quarter, exceeding market expectations, analysts expressed concerns about the development of an experimental cancer drug called Dato-DXd. Astrazeneca and partner Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd announced on Tuesday that the application previously submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been withdrawn and another application targeting a broader patient population has been resubmitted.

Analyst John Murphy from Bloomberg Intelligence stated that this move "could further lower long-term sales expectations for this potentially blockbuster drug". Analyst Peter Welford from Jefferies Financial mentioned in a report that the withdrawal and resubmission of the FDA application was "a setback, but not entirely unexpected".

There are reports that Chinese authorities are investigating alleged illegal imports of anti-cancer drugs via Hong Kong to China, causing heavy losses to this British pharmaceutical company. Media reports suggest that the company's China region President has been detained, while several current and former senior executives are under government investigation.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot stated in a declaration that the company "attaches great importance" to matters related to the Chinese market, and added that they will fully cooperate with officials in Peking upon request. AstraZeneca also stated that they have not received any notification about the company itself being under investigation.

Financial data shows that in the third quarter, AstraZeneca's sales in the Chinese market were approximately $1.7 billion, with a 15% year-on-year growth at fixed exchange rates; sales in the European market increased by 22% year-on-year, while in other emerging markets (excluding China) they grew by 31%, and sales from the USA market increased by around 23% year-on-year.

Revelations about China overshadowed the latest results of the company's highly anticipated anti-obesity drug assets. AstraZeneca stated that three new potential anti-obesity drugs have been proven to be safe and are undergoing mid-stage clinical trials. These drugs include an innovative experimental weight loss drug.

This UK-based pharmaceutical giant is striving to nearly double its sales to approximately $80 billion and aims to launch 20 new drugs by 2030. Oncology drugs will be the most critical factor in achieving this ambitious sales target.

Following the latest financial report release, AstraZeneca's stock price rose by 3% in early London trading, before the gains narrowed. As of Monday's close, the stock has fallen by 5.8% on the London Stock Exchange this year. In the US market, AstraZeneca's ADR price has decreased by around 2% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500 index which has seen approximately a 25% increase.